Masquerade

Chapter Twenty-three

A new world has opened up before me.

Everything has changed now that I finally understand the mystery behind my birth. The queen's magic, which found me after her death, kept me pure. Its influence made me immune from the curse, leaving my skin clean and untouched. It made me the anomaly I am today.

This leaves me feeling incredibly sad as well. I've known for a while now that magic always comes with a price, a hard truth that cannot be reversed. But the fact that I became this way due to an innocent woman's death is difficult to bear. I know there is nothing I could have done to stop Saffron from ending her life, but I cannot escape the feeling of guilt that now resides in my mind.

All I can do now is live with what I have, for that is what she would have wanted. I truly believe in my heart that she is not at fault for the curse. The kingdom is at fault, having failed her so greatly.

But despite that, I never heard any mention of hate during her last moments. She loved her people to the very end, despite what they did to her. She would have never wanted to afflict pain upon them; she was nothing more than a victim who became out of control.

She also wanted the right people to one day find out the truth. She must have held that thought in her mind as the curse wrapped its tendrils around our kingdom, giving the elderly the gift to share her story. When that man grabbed my arm, it was her memory calling out to me, desperately wanting to exist in the mind of another.

No wonder King Malin banished the older citizens to this building. He couldn't risk anyone else finding out the truth of what he did, the atrocities he committed. He's a coward unable to face his sins, and he must be held accountable.

I continue to think about this as Jac and I exit the containment center in silence, walking out to find Kendry in the exact same spot we left him. He looks up with relief, seeming much better than he was earlier. The side effects of the spell have evidently worn off.

"Any results?" he asks.

"Yes. You and Jac will both hear the whole story, but we need to make our way back. There is something very important that we must do."

He cocks an eyebrow, looking as if he could die from curiosity. But he puts his wants aside for now and simply follows us out of the sewers, back into the daylight that has all but left us.

But upon exiting the building, we quickly realize that we are not alone. A full battalion of nomads stand before us, weapons drawn and faces contorted in anger.

I rub my eyes, not yet used to the blinding sunlight after having spent so much time in the dark containment center. And when I do so, I realize that the men surrounding us are not Barlow and his group. They are the king's guard, who I fully expected to be overtaken. But apparently, they won the battle.

"What happened? Where are the nomads?" Jac demands, more out of curiosity than anything. He's not actually concerned for Barlow, considering what he tried to do to us.

"Oh, they were carted off long ago," a soldier steps forward. I instantly recognize him as the captain from earlier, during the whole invisibility spell fiasco.

"But I don't understand...there were so many of them," I say cautiously, not wanting to offend him. I'm sure we're already in trouble, so outright saying that I imagined the soldiers losing is probably not the best move.

The captain laughs easily, his confidence still completely intact. "That's what they wanted us all to believe. They used a very complicated mirage spell that was new to us, but we eventually saw through it. Barlow was too ambitious this time, so we rounded him and his followers up. They're on their way to the palace dungeons as we speak, which is exactly where you lot are going."